Gary Gygax died the morning of March 4, 2008, at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

He was in semi-retirement, having almost suffered a heart attack after receiving incorrect medication to prevent further strokes after those on April 1 and May 4, 2004. He was diagnosed with an inoperable abdominal aortic aneurysm. Even while his health failed, gaming remained very much a part of his life. Gygax was still active in the gaming community and had active Q & A forums on gaming websites such as Dragonsfoot and EN World.

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else."

Gary Gygax was tied with J. R. R. Tolkien for #18 on GameSpy's 30 Most Influential People in Gaming (Gamespy Magazine, March 2002).As of March 13, 2003, Gygax was listed under the entry Dungeons and Dragons in the Oxford English Dictionary.A strain of bacteria was named in honor of Gary Gygax, namely "Arthronema gygaxiana sp nov UTCC393".Sync Magazine named Gary Gygax #1 on the list of "The 50 Biggest Nerds of All Time".SFX Magazine listed him as #37 on the list of the "50 Greatest SF Pioneers".In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Gary Gygax as one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons "at least in the realm of adventure gaming."Gary Gygax was commemorated in webcomics series xkcd's comic #393 "Ultimate Game", Penny Arcade's "Bordering On The Semi-Tasteful" and Dork Tower's "Thanks for the Worldbuilding Rules", on Order of the Stick and in GU Comics' "The Journey's End".Following the announcement of his death and as a tribute to him, several Dungeons and Dragons players proposed to call a natural 20 dice roll (on the Dungeons and Dragons emblematic 20 sided die) a "Gygax".

« Last Edit: January 01, 2009, 07:28:26 PM by Trailrider »

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“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Actor Patrick Swayze's publicist Annett Wolf shocked many with his statement on Monday evening that the 'Dirty Dancing' star passed away peacefully with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months.

London - Keith Floyd, a flamboyant chef who shared his passion for good food and fine wine with a generation of British television viewers, has died, his ghostwriter said on Tuesday. He was 65.

James Steen said Floyd died on Monday of a heart attack in Bridport, southwest England. He had been suffering from bowel cancer.

Born in 1943, Floyd developed an interest in cooking while serving in the British army, trying out his culinary creations in the officers' mess.

He later worked in kitchens in Britain and France before opening his own restaurants in Bristol, southwest England, where he was discovered by a television producer.

Starting in the 1980s, series like Floyd on Fish and Floyd on France made him a household name in Britain and were shown around the world. He became famous for his bow tie, ever-present glass of wine and unscripted banter with his cameraman that sometimes tipped over into bickering.

Steen said one of Floyd's breakthroughs was to attract men to the world of cooking.

"At that time it was thought that if you were a man you couldn't cook," Steen said. "But he said 'I'm a man, I love rugby, I love women, I can cook'."

Floyd paved the way for a generation of TV chefs that includes Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver. Oliver said Floyd had been "an inspiration to me and to so many others".

Floyd's off-screen ventures, which included restaurants in Britain, France and Thailand, sometimes struggled - he once said he did not have a head for business.

He also battled a drinking problem, and in 2004 was banned from driving for 32 months after crashing his car into another vehicle while three-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit.

David Rawdon (85) died on Friday, 13 August 2010. David was the quintessential entrepreneur whose pioneering spirit as a visionary, hotelier and talented interior decorator saw first the creation of Rawdon’s Country House in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands – the first of the Country House hotels in South Africa. David then sold Rawdon’s and acquired and developed Lanzerac near Stellenbosch in the Cape, which was the first Country House in the Cape and became the place to visit. David also purchased and redeveloped The Marine Hotel in Hermanus.Many well-known personalities of the hospitality industry in South Africa have been trained by David Rawdon during their tenures at Rawdons, Lanzerac, The Marine Hotel or Matjiesfontein. David’s great understanding and love of history and interior design created exceptional places and Matjiesfontein is certainly the place where David Rawdon’s incredible creative passions found a home, and many faithful followers. David acquired the entire village of Matjiesfontein during the late 1960s and, after detailed and loving restoration work, Matjiesfontein and the Lord Milner Hotel re-opened in 1970. David then sold both Lanzerac and The Marine to focus on Matjiesfontein.